Football Coach Suspends Entire Team For Bullying

High school football coach Matt Labrum has a zero tolerance policy for bullying from his Union High team in Utah, and he didn't back down putting it to use when it came to his attention that a few of his players were bullying kids online.

One incident in particular moved the coaches to action. A few days before, guidance counselors informed the coaches about a student who believed he was being harassed and bullied by football players on an anonymous online chat program called ask.fm — something Labrum and his staff had never heard of before last week. Because the social media website allows users to hurl insults from behind a screen name, there was no way for coaches or counselors to know who was harassing the young man, who is not a member of the football team.

“We said, ‘We’ve got to make a change,’” said Labrum, who met with the student who was bullied on Monday to offer an apology. “We were pretty open with (the players) about what we’d heard. We don’t want that represented in our program. … Whoever it is (doing the bullying), we want to help get them back on the right path.”

After a stern locker room lecture, the team was asked to turn in their uniforms. They were disbanded and would have to earn their spots back through acts of charity and kindness. Not a single parent complained about the situation and some of the students have spent time performing community service and attending study halls to rejoin the team.

I think it is great if it was the football players. My only question is if it is an anonymous site for comments how do we know it was the football players? After the warning they very well could have stopped, if it was them in the first place, and others could have continued. I've never heard of ask.fm in the first place so maybe they can find out who it was?

Bravo for the coach!! And hopefully a lesson well learned by these stupid, cowardly bullies who had to hide behind screen names to offend a good, honest kid who did them no wrong. The coach's example is one to follow!

YAY!! You go coach. Finally a news story about a coach who cares more for his students and their moral values than for the allmighty game! Hope the players, and other schools in the area take not and realize that bullying is WRONG.

Teens take their cues from those they respect, Coach you may have changed the path of these young men's lives. I applaud you, we need more people in a place of authority and respect to take a stand against bullying. If only more people had your integrity.

So many coaches focus on wins and losses and do things to ensure that they'll at least play a game rather than do what's right.

This guy made the point to his team that winning isn't as important as being someone of character and taking responsibility for your actions by disbanding the entire team. Hopefully, the lesson won't be lost on the players who won't be playing this weekend and the players who did it are found out.

Too bad something like this wasn't done in the Brian Holloway incident. That his house wasn't school property none of the school officials could do anything ... but the parents of those kids could! No football, basketball, track, debate team, band, turn in the car/truck keys, cell phone, da beats .. etc ...

If anyone ever deserved a standing ovation, it is this coach. Being an educator myself, I am surprised the administration granted him this power. This would never float here in Texas. Labrum would be the one suspended because the parents would demand it. Unless adults take a firm stand on this disgrace, young people will continue to bully. I would be honored to work along side this brave man.

NOW there's someone who really cares about those kids and the kind of human beings they are going to grow up to be, he's aware of his influence over them and he's going do the right thing with that influence. this story just gave me a little glimmer of hope for the children attending our schools and hopefully other coaches and teachers alike will follow suit what a great example and what a caring person especially for a football coach as most of them really do not care about anything except winning they're games they are usually so willing to just look the other way and obviously this man doesn't feel the same way, I applaud him and i respect him.